Reading that makes me wish nothing more than personal failure to Leipold. Sounds exactly like the same guy who ran this team into the ground. I feel bad for Wild fans if what I think is coming actually does. Not so much for Suter or Parise, but for the fans definitely. Leipold just doesn't know how to control himself. He rambles on about spending needing to be gotten under control, and then he goes out and spends a huge sum of money on two guys. He talks like a business man, and then acts like a child with a $5 burning a hole in his pocket.

Reading that makes me wish nothing more than personal failure to Leipold. Sounds exactly like the same guy who ran this team into the ground. I feel bad for Wild fans if what I think is coming actually does. Not so much for Suter or Parise, but for the fans definitely. Leipold just doesn't know how to control himself. He rambles on about spending needing to be gotten under control, and then he goes out and spends a huge sum of money on two guys. He talks like a business man, and then acts like a child with a $5 burning a hole in his pocket.

Say what you want about Leipold, but Chuck Fletcher has done a pretty good job building for the long term since he took over a few years back. Fletcher built the prospect pool up from one the worst in the NHL to one of the very best. He has shipped out the malcontents and brought in "character guys".

What killed the team last season was the lack of depth. Going into mid-December, the Wild were at the top of the Western Conference, but when the injuries hit their main players (Koivu, Setoguchi, Bouchard, Lattendresse, etc.), there was nobody in the system to fill that void other than career AHLers (Warren Peters, Nick Johnson, etc.)

This season most of our top prospects have turned Pro...and while Granlund may be the only rookie to make the roster, there are now players in the minors (Coyle, Zucker, Larsson, Bulmer) who we feel can contribute more than the fill-ins we've been seeing the past few seasons.

And with Parise and Suter added to the line-up, there is a "trickle down" effect on everyone else. Now players who are 3rd line players and can play on that 3rd line instead of having to play 1st and 2nd line duties.

You can be of the opinion that Leipold is a hypocrite and overpaid for Parise and Suter...but that is the nature of the beast when it comes to free agency. The Wild were not the only team willing to "overpay" for these two guys.

The Wild should make the playoffs this season. My guess is that they can and should grab a 6-8 seed. But the future definitely looks bright.

Suter's character is highly questionable at this point. One thing is for sure, he's not a man of his word.

No one really knows for sure what went on between Suter and is agent and David Poile. Suter and Neil Sheehy have their version and Poile has his own.....and the truth is generally somewhere in between. In addition to that, Suter's public comments definitely didn't make it sound like he was guaranteeing to re-up with the Predators.

But if Poile honestly believed that there wasn't a chance that Suter would sign elsewhere no matter what Suter and Sheehy may have told him before July 1st, then he is extremely naive.....Which I don't believe to be the case. Poile is a smart guy, but was upset because he lost a top free agent. I believe his initial response was purely emotional.

Poile has been in the business for a long time and I've don't remember him calling out a single free agent like he did Suter. I'm going to have to believe Poile on this one, not to mention, Suter had said all along, he wanted to see how committed the Predators were to winning so the Predators went all in this year, only to see him back out..

Poile has been in the business for a long time and I've don't remember him calling out a single free agent like he did Suter. I'm going to have to believe Poile on this one, not to mention, Suter had said all along, he wanted to see how committed the Predators were to winning so the Predators went all in this year, only to see him back out..

He's scum.

I can't believe Poile made all those moves just to satisfy a single player's demands.... He's too smart for that.

So then Suter lied all along because there was nothing Poile can do at that point. Waddell did the same for Kovy in Atlanta.

I honestly believe Suter considered re-signing with Nashville all along and even after July 1st. I also don't believe, for a second, that he gave any indication that would 100% guarantee to re-sign with Nashville. If that was the case, why would he even wait to go to July 1st?

Say what you want about Leipold, but Chuck Fletcher has done a pretty good job building for the long term since he took over a few years back. Fletcher built the prospect pool up from one the worst in the NHL to one of the very best. He has shipped out the malcontents and brought in "character guys".

What killed the team last season was the lack of depth. Going into mid-December, the Wild were at the top of the Western Conference, but when the injuries hit their main players (Koivu, Setoguchi, Bouchard, Lattendresse, etc.), there was nobody in the system to fill that void other than career AHLers (Warren Peters, Nick Johnson, etc.)

This season most of our top prospects have turned Pro...and while Granlund may be the only rookie to make the roster, there are now players in the minors (Coyle, Zucker, Larsson, Bulmer) who we feel can contribute more than the fill-ins we've been seeing the past few seasons.

And with Parise and Suter added to the line-up, there is a "trickle down" effect on everyone else. Now players who are 3rd line players and can play on that 3rd line instead of having to play 1st and 2nd line duties.

You can be of the opinion that Leipold is a hypocrite and overpaid for Parise and Suter...but that is the nature of the beast when it comes to free agency. The Wild were not the only team willing to "overpay" for these two guys.

The Wild should make the playoffs this season. My guess is that they can and should grab a 6-8 seed. But the future definitely looks bright.

I completely understand...and remember, we went through the same thing with Gaborik a few years ago.

I just wanted to respond to the post where Predators fans should "feel bad" for Minnesota fans.

I never said Preds fans should feel bad for Minnesota fans. I don't tell preds fans how to feel. I said that if what I think is happening actually does happen then I feel bad for Minnesota fans. Leipold started throwing money at problems in Nashville, and it screwed the team until some actual businessmen came in to fix it. I hope he doesn't do the same in Minnesota.